The State of the Nation Address provided a stark assessment of the country’s healthcare system, acknowledging the “catastrophic collapse of the medical supply chain” which led to the official declaration of a state of public health emergency in August 2025. President Boko revealed that at the time of the declaration, critical medicines were “almost non-existent,” a systemic failure that had been “building up for decades.” Thanks to swift action, including the purchasing of over 300 tonnes of supplies and generous donations from international partners, the availability of vital, essential, and necessary (V.E.N.) medications has risen to 63%, up from critical lows. The President extended deep gratitude to partner nations, including the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Brazil, China, and Cyprus, for their pledges and donations.
The government is prioritising the long-term fix by undertaking necessary reforms under the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP) to achieve its two main health goals: raising the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Index from 55 to 75 in the next 5 years and introducing a co-created National Health Insurance scheme. This involves major reengineering, including the urgent restructuring and immediate digitisation of the Central Medical Stores (CMS). To address dilapidated infrastructure, the Health First Botswana Partnership is being established in collaboration with the Botswana Development Corporation to urgently fund facility repairs.
Furthermore, to combat the issue of obsolete equipment, the Ministry of Health is transitioning towards equipment placement models for laboratory and radiology services, where the government will only pay for tests, and equipment owners will be responsible for maintenance under strict Service Level Agreements. This is already seeing results, with two new state-of-the-art X-ray machines purchased for Princess Marina Hospital and three mobile X-rays being deployed in primary hospitals in Gumare, Gweta, and Bobonong. The President also announced a generous grant worth approximately P700 million (USD 50 million) secured to drive the commitment to transform the health system to a primary care focus. The specialised care provision is also being optimised by approving the Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital (SKMTH) to function as a State-Owned Public Hospital, creating a single pool of medical specialists to realise its triple mandate of clinical services, training, and research.
